Robot Wars: The Third Wars/International League Championship
The International League Championship was one of two international Robot Wars competitions held during the filming of Robot Wars: The Third Wars. The other competition was The First World Championship, which was released exclusively on video and later on DVD. The International League Championship featured six robots from six countries, which were split into two groups with one robot from each battling in the final. The episode was broadcast on September 15, 2000 on BBC Two. The broadcast managed to attract 4.58 million viewers, a decrease of 370,000 viewers when compared with the previous episode. According to BARB, this meant it did however rank first in the top thirty highest rated BBC 2 broadcasts during 11-17 September. Competing Robots Group A Group B War of Independence The Ashes Group Stage Robots scored three points for a win and one point each for a draw (if both robots were still mobile at the end of the battle). The robot with the most points progressed to the final battle. *W = battles won *D = battles drawn *L = battles lost *Pts = total points scored Group A Depoppesaurus Rex (BEL) vs Terror Australis (AUS) Before the battle began, Terror Australis showed no signs of life, having had its motors burnt out. The team attempted to get it working, but with no success, so the battle was postponed. Luckily for the Australian team, Team Nemesis allowed them to use Nemesis for the duration of the competition. The robot was repainted in yellow and green, and adopted the "Terror Australis" name. As the battle began in earnest, the two robots started slowly, with Terror Australis nudging into Depoppesaurus Rex's side. Depoppesaurus Rex was able to get underneath Terror Australis as they spun and lifted it up, but not enough to tip it over. Terror Australis was dropped, but couldn't land a good attack on Depoppesaurus Rex as it spun around, using its rear to swat the Australian team away. Terror Australis then drove onto the front nose of Depoppesaurus Rex but Terror Australis backed away in time. Undeterred, Depoppesaurus Rex made for another frontal attack and managed to lift its opponent onto its side, but no more than that and it eventually dropped back onto its wheels. Terror Australis made for a last side-ram, and pushed Depoppesaurus Rex slightly, but was unable to puncture its armour. Nevertheless, it was able to keep to the Belgian robot's side as time ran out. With both robots still mobile, a draw was declared. Winner: Draw Diotoir (IRE) vs Terror Australis (AUS) The battle began slowly as both robots made their way to the centre of the arena. As Diotoir lowered its lifting arm, it managed to wedge underneath Terror Australis, but failed to get enough purchase to lift it, with the Australian team spinning away. Diotoir got underneath Terror Australis once more, but could only lift it slightly before it backed away. Diotoir's flipper did not appear to be working properly, and as Terror Australis spun from side to side, its blades managed to rip off some of Diotoir's fur. The two robots collided a few times, but Diotoir seemed to have the greater pushing power, albeit at the cost of more of its fur coming off. By now, the entire front of Diotoir was devoid of fur. It managed to get underneath Terror Australis again, but with its flipper not functioning properly, it could only lift its predecessor off the ground slightly. Despite this, Terror Australis appeared to have gotten stuck on Diotoir's body, who in turn spun it around and slowly pushed it towards the pit, eventually pushing its predecessor in. Diotoir then proceeded to attack the House Robots, managing to get its lifting arm caught in Sir Killalot's tracks, although Matilda destroyed one of its eyes and the fur caught fire. Winner: Diotoir Depoppesaurus Rex (BEL) vs Diotoir (IRE) The two robots came together and Diotoir immediately attempted to get underneath Depoppesaurus Rex with its lifting arm. It struggled to work the right position to thrust its weapon into action, but managed to push Depoppesaurus Rex around and into the arena wall, before eventually managing to flip the Belgian machine over. As Diotoir continued to ram into Depoppesaurus Rex, the House Robots came in and attacked the Belgian robot, and Matilda flipped it back onto its wheels. Depoppesaurus Rex quickly ran away from danger, but was caught by Shunt and Dead Metal, who teamed up to push Depoppesaurus Rex sideways onto the Pit of Oblivion. However, Depoppesaurus Rex was too long to fall in fully because of its length- its tail and lifter held it between the sides briefly, causing it to roll over, before finally slipping and falling in upside-down. Cease was called, with Diotoir winning the battle and Group A. Winner: Diotoir Group B Note: Cassius 2 was originally due to represent England in this tournament, but was unable to compete, so Razer was entered in its place. Prometheus (USA) vs Techno-Lease (NED) Techno-Lease started slowly, while Prometheus lingered on its starting position for some time before charging into Techno-Lease head-on. The two then locked horns and were unable to push each other, instead slowly spinning around. After a moment of inactivity, with Techno-Lease pushing Prometheus back slightly, Sgt. Bash came out of his CPZ to separate the two robots. He required several forceful slams to push Prometheus away, and the American robot's top armour plate had come loose. Techno-Lease managed to turn around and used its grinding arm on Prometheus, causing no damage at all. Prometheus' attempts to gain traction caused the robot to shake violently. Eventually, Prometheus managed to push Techno-Lease into Sgt. Bash's CPZ, up against the arena wall. It backed away, only for the petrol engine to stall and begin smoking. Techno-Lease, however, was also immobile, and Sgt. Bash pushed the Dutch robot onto the arena spikes. Time ran out with neither robot mobile, and a draw was declared. Winner: Draw Razer (ENG) vs Prometheus (USA) Prometheus' motors had burnt out during its battle against Techno-Lease, and the team were unable to replace them. As a result, Prometheus forfeited the battle and Razer was awarded the win by default. Winner: Razer (by default) Razer (ENG) vs Techno-Lease (NED) Razer darted out from the starting blocks and bumped into Techno-Lease side on before sliding underneath the Dutch robot and crushing through the top of it. Razer backed away, before coming in again and forcing Techno-Lease towards Shunt's CPZ, where it crumpled Techno-Lease once more. Razer then lifted Techno-Lease, which saw both robots locked together, balanced on their sides. Still balanced, Razer skated backwards into Shunt, where it suffered an axe blow from the House Robot. Razer was parked on Shunt's scoop, who pushed it into the centre of the arena and then onto its side, but Razer self-righted. Razer came in on another drive at Techno-Lease and rammed it against the arena side wall, where it pierced through the top of Techno-Lease. Techno-Lease appeared to become immobilised after this, and Razer attempted to lift it into the air using the arm on the back of its crushing beak. After Techno-Lease had been immobilised, Razer attacked Shunt and Matilda, attacking Matilda's chainsaw and Shunt's scoop, causing damage to both. Cease was called, Razer was declared the winner, and the victorious robot in Group B. Winner: Razer Final Diotoir (IRE) vs Razer (ENG) According to Ciarán Byrne, the televised version of this battle was not the first attempt at filming the fight. In Byrne's own words, Diotoir had originally driven into Razer's grip but kept its tyres on the ground, and 'slammed Razer around the arena', before it was revealed that the camera equipment was faulty and the fight had to be abandoned. The teams then broke for lunch, and Byrne asserts that Razer's batteries were recharged whilst Diotoir's were notConversation between Ciarán Byrne and Team Immersion in Janaury 2020. Razer darted across the arena floor and clashed with Diotoir, which managed to hold it off with the position of the lifting arm. With both robots locked in a spin, Razer backed away. Diotoir tried throw Razer over as it retreated, but could only flick it slightly. Razer came in again, and this time gripped Diotoir and pierced through the armour. Razer dragged Diotoir towards the pit and then let go of it. Diotoir appeared to stop moving after this attack and Razer was able to push it into the pit. International League Champion: Razer Other Battles War of Independence A-Kill (ENG) vs Tentoumushi (USA) This was a special battle which took place during the championship between robots from England and the USA. A-Kill had replaced Hard Cheese in this battle as the producers thought the fight would be fairer if Tentoumushi fought a smaller robot (Tentoumushi was a lightweight). It has been said that this was a grudge match between the joint winners of the Middleweight Melee from the third series, but it was actually filmed before the Middleweight Melee, despite being broadcast afterwards. Tentoumushi started by lifting up its smothering smell, before covering A-Kill. A-Kill managed to gain traction though, and drove towards the pit, where the two robots became separated. Tentoumushi continued to pressure A-Kill, and dropped the shell down onto the English robot again before backing away. A-Kill began to drift towards the pit and then got stuck on the lip of the pit, which meant that Tentoumushi was able to push A-Kill down and out, confirming Tentoumushi as the War of Independence winner. Winner: Tentoumushi The Ashes Mortis (ENG) vs Terror Australis (AUS) This was another special battle which pitted Mortis of England against the Nemesis version of Terror Australis of Australia. Mortis tried to manoeuvre for position straight away, but Terror Australis managed to deflect it aside with its blades, with Mortis missing with a swing of its axe in the process. Mortis then managed to get purchase under Terror Australis and forced it back against the arena wall, before using its lifting arm to feed Terror Australis to Shunt, where it was dealt with multiple axe blows. Mortis then carried the still attached Terror Australis out of the CPZ and toppled Terror Australis onto its back. Unable to self-right, the House Robots closed in, and Dead Metal placed Terror Australis onto the arena floor flipper, while Mortis and Shunt scuffled in the background. Terror Australis was sent flying, before Dead Metal finished it off by discarding it into the Pit of Oblivion. Winner: Mortis Trivia *The Championship was mainly designed as a pilot for Dutch, Belgian and Australian audiences. *Despite being filmed during the Third Wars, this episode was broadcast nearly five months after the Series 3 Grand Final, and only one week before the start of Fourth Wars. *This seemingly minor episode of Robot Wars became incredibly rare due to its lack of broadcasting after the original showing, however it has since been made available on YouTube. *Marc Thorpe, the creator of the original US Robot Wars events, appears at the end of this episode to present the winning trophy to Team Razer. *This episode featured a lot of recycled footage, particularly from the Third Wars. At least two clips shown were also featured in the First World Championship, including Razer's trophy presentation (although it is unclear which competition was filmed first), and a clip from Diotoir's battle against The Steel Avenger from Series 3 is used after its battle against Terror Australis to explain how it caught fire (indeed, The Steel Avenger is just about visible in one of the shots). **The post-battle interview of Diotoir and Depoppesaurus Rex, between Philippa Forrester and Team Nemesis, was also reused in its entirety. *This episode's War of Independence battle marked the only time a history-themed event ended with the historically correct outcome. References Category:The Third Wars Category:International Events Category:Wars of Independence